Suspicions and Secrets
by Pippa Spark
Summary: Dom is acting suspiciously...who is the lady he speaks of sneaking into the camp at night? Kel won't rest until she finds out, whatever it takes. Complete! This fic. was written for an April/May TP. writing challenge. A fun read. Please R/R!
1. Chapter 1

**Well, this is the first chapter of what will be a five chapter story written for the April / May Writing Challenge for the Tamora Pierce Writing Challenge forum. Phew, that was a wordy sentence ;)**

**Anyway, chapter one must contain a horse. Enjoy :)**

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Half a day had passed since the two squadrons had left Corus, yet Keladry of Mindelan still felt that the city was far too close.

She shifted her weight slightly in the saddle but this did little to soothe her aching back, stiff from sitting upright as she rode. Her horse, Cherrytree, continued her sedate plodding at the back of the long line of riders and caravans.

Little had happened in the past few months, save relocating some villagers up north after a flash flood. Kel's and Dom's squadrons had been assigned to escorting several strings of caravans from Tusaine's border to Corus and back. Everyone was relieved on be on the final return journey, now that the last string of caravans had been relieved of the season's last batch of spices. These had been left in Corus, to be enjoyed by rich nobles like the ones in Kel's family.

Her family. Kel grimaced.

"_30 years old? 30?" Adalia's voice was light, but it had a mocking tone. "Don't die an old maid, Kel; it's high time you found a man. Why, leave it much longer and no-one will want you!"_

_Kel's cheeks burned. Why did everything always boil down to the fact that she remained unmarried?_

"_Hush!" Lady Ilane of Mindelan rapped Adalia's shoulder with her ivory fan. "Kel is married to her work and that dedication shows. Why, she has been defending our kingdom for over a decade. Sometimes I wish_ all _my children could claim such an achievement."_

"_Just wait and see if that 'achievement' provides for her when she's a crippled spinster of five-and-seventy years," grumbled Oranie._

_Oh, she had fought Scanran armies, war mages, and some of the most vile immortals ever seen, but Kel would rather battle all of these ten times over than that great evil they call 'siblings'._

_She rested her head in her palm. It was going to be a long night._

_Adalia, meanwhile, sipped her herbal tea while flirting with a passing waiter. "Oh, by the way," she said distractedly, "happy birthday". _

Cherrytree stumbled, jolting Kel back to reality. She shook her head and pushed the memory of yesterday's small birthday dinner to the back of her mind. Aside from a few short letters from her closest friends, barely anyone had acknowledged the beginning of a new decade in Kel's life.

_And that decade began with me feeling more alone than ever_, thought Kel gloomily.

She pondered past decisions, as she tended to do a lot these days. Should she have clung to Cleon? Was he the reason she felt a sense of loss? But no, for all her contemplation, there was really only one conclusion she ever came to…her sense of loss was due to a burning desire of hers which had never been realised, and probably never would be. If only he would kneel before her, take both her hands, and say –

"Hey, lady knight!" Kel's heart raced at the sound of Domitan of Masbolle's voice. She straightened and smiled as he rode up to her on a large chestnut gelding. "How about making camp here?" he asked.

Kel wrinkled her nose with distaste. "We won't have made that much ground…" she trailed off when she saw the dazzling smile Dom gave her.

"Come on, Kel," he wheedled. "Everyone's tired. And apparently the traders have some great campfire tales."

"Oh, all right," Kel gave in - _not_, she told herself, just to receive another of Dom's smiles. Still, she wondered why he had wanted to make camp so early.

She blinked as Dom rode off eagerly down the line, spreading the word to halt for the night. He had seemed eager to get his way by being friendly, but had apparently no desire to linger near Kel. _In fact_, she noted, as Dom rode back up the line, catching her eye accidentally before looking hurriedly away, _he almost seems to be avoiding me. _

Watching Dom from a distance, Kel dismounted and hastily groomed, fed and watered Cherrytree – she didn't have to spend much time due to the slow pace of the day's ride taking so little out of the horses. She continued in her camping routine, one eye always trained on Dom. It was just as she was untying her bedroll that she saw Dom beckon to some unknown figure before disappearing into some trees off the edge of the clearing.

Doing her best to act nonchalant, Kel left her gear and trailed towards the place from where Dom had left the camp. She glanced around anxiously to see if anyone was looking at her, before slipping between the trees and down the narrow path. Her boots made no noise in the soft dirt, yet she found it hard to move quietly as she attempted to push aside overgrown foliage.

Hearing the faint murmur of voices, Kel realised that she couldn't get any closer through the foliage without being heard, yet she couldn't quite hear what was being said. Gritting her teeth, she glanced over at the jagged rocky outcrop to her right. It was high, but would provide cover for her. Slowly, she began to climb, not trusting herself to look down at the ground, several metres below her.

Lying along the highest slab of the rocks, she peered over the edge. Through a thin tree canopy she could see Dom and another figure – his deep voice confirmed he was a man – talking purposefully. She strained her ears to listen.

"…have to sneak her in without Kel getting wind of it," Dom was saying with emphasis.

The other man mumbled something, and Dom hissed a reply.

"It's all arranged for tonight, so it will happen tonight! A good thing we're not too far from Corus or it would be harder for her to get here."

This time Kel heard the other man speak. "It would be bad if she couldn't make it, I guess mainly seeing as she's put so much into organising it with you." His voice seemed very familiar, but she couldn't place it – maybe he was one of the members of Dom's squadron.

Dom chuckled. "She and I feel like quite the masterminds at the moment: not only will Kel never know, but even her husband looks like a right fool – although of course, he doesn't just look like one, he _is_ one – next to her. He was lucky to find such a nice lady."

The man murmured something, and Dom laughed out loud. "You're right; it's just one night, how hard can it be? And with you fellows on our side, Kel will never even get a sniff of this." He clapped the man on the shoulder. "Sometimes I think I should pay all my friends in gold." They walked out of the clearing amicably, leaving Kel, still hidden, with her head spinning in shock.

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**Hope you all enjoyed this :) Apologies if it seemed to lack a certain je ne sais quoi; I wasn't feeling particularly inspired. Still, having an end-of-May deadline meant that I tortured my muse until she coughed up sometime passable :P**

**So…what is going on with Dom? Who is his mysterious lady-friend? I'm actually quite looking forward to writing the second chapter; it should be up in a few days. Reviews always appreciated :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two must contain an injury. How's THAT for foreshadowing? :P**

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_He's found a lady, _whispered a nasty voice in Kel's mind. _He's found a love, and he's hiding her from you…_and_ he's sneaking her into the camp at night._

Hot tears of hurt threatened to spill over from Kel's eyes. She dashed them away angrily, choking back a sob. Why had he had to get involved with someone else? How long had this been going on for? _Who was she?_

These question and others like them raced about inside Kel's head. Yet another question lingered in the foreground. She gnawed on a hangnail anxiously as she contemplated: why was he keeping it all secret from her?

Couldn't he trust her? Didn't he like her? Sure, she would have secretly hated anyone involved with Dom, but he wasn't to know that! So why wouldn't he tell her, his friend, his fellow knight, _who_ he was in a relationship with? Or even that he was _in_ a relationship!

_It's because there's a division in your ranks._ The voice was back, and now it sounded funnily like Lord Wyldon. _He doesn't want you to know he's sneaking in a lady at night. Everyone knows that's a shocking breach of decorum._ Kel could practically envisage Lord Wyldon's eyes bulging, his face red with rage. _He pays in men well to keep you from catching him. Maybe he pays them by allowing them to sneak in ladies of their own!_

That thought made Kel freeze with dread. What if half the men were actually more interested in pretty women than their jobs? If such news ever made it back to Lord Wyldon, she'd be disgraced for leading the squadrons and not knowing the happenings of the group. Goddess, what a shambles – imagine not noticing that your co-leader was breaching the knight's code of work! She'd had to prove what was going on and report it to Lord Wyldon. If she didn't, she'd probably be removed from the field, for either withholding information, or not being aware of the dynamics within thee group. Or – Kel shuddered – for being in utter disgrace for letting this happen, ruining the good name of Tortallen knights – bringing shame to their sparkling reputation!

She ran her fingers through sweaty brown hair. She didn't want to betray Dom, but she just had to do the right thing. Her knight's honour was a stake. _And besides_, the nasty voice piped up, he _was the one who betrayed _you.

Not that that was entirely true…but it did help Kel to justify her decision.

"What a mess…" she murmured to herself, her expression distant. "To think that tings have come to spying on Dom to gain proof to condemn him." _And, of course,_ she added silently, _there is also the fact that I simply want to know who his lady-friend is – but let's not mention that._

"So, I just have to keep Dom from finding out what I'm up to," Kel told herself, "and everything will work out. Yes. Of course it will."

She clasped her hands together decisively – and then lost her calm demeanour entirely as she realised she was already failing at her resolve to keep her plans secret.

She swore an oath that would have made her mother throw her off a balcony. She couldn't let Dom know what she was up to – but he'd be sure to ask questions when he got back to camp and found her gone.

She scrambled down the rocky outcrop. Small rocks tumbled away from under her boots. She moved quickly, hurriedly. Her one thought was that she needed to get back – and she grabbed at a ledge as her foot slipped. She missed it and fell heavily on her right leg, grazing exposed skin on the forest floor. Her knee began throbbing. Gingerly, she rolled up her riding pants to find that her knee was already swelling fast.

Gritting her teeth, she hauled herself up by a low-hanging tree branch. She eased her weight slowly onto her injured leg, and bit her cheek to keep from crying out as her knee protested. Kel, however, knew that more was at stake than her knee if she didn't get back to camp quickly. She hobbled as fast as she could along an improvised route, hoping to make it back to her tent unseen.

Luckily for her, she did emerge into the clearing without anyone noticing. But her relief was short-lived; her stomach dropped as she saw Dom approaching.

"Where have you been? We thought you might have been expecting us to get organised without you!" His tone was light, but Kel saw that Dom still expected her to answer his question.

Her mind went blank. "I-uh…" Stammering, she gained some time, and then blurted out, "Ladies' business."

Dom raised his eyebrows and smiled knowingly. Kel wanted to _die_.

"So…" Dom broke the silence. Kel wished he would just leave. Then Dom frowned, glancing down. "What happened to your knee?"

"Oh, that." Painful embarrassment had made her forget all about her knee – which now throbbed with a vengeance. "Oh, um, I fell down."

Dom raised his eyebrows again.

"Yeah." Kel glanced away. "Tripped."

"Riiight." Dom made the word sound five syllables long. "You tripped. Okay." He shrugged. "Okay."

Kel didn't care that she sounded whiny. "But I _did_!"

Dom just looked at her. "It's okay," he said. "I believe you. Now let me take a look at your knee." He bent down and frowned at her injury; the joint was now swollen to almost double its normal size.

Kel gave an inward sigh of relief. He hadn't seemed fully convinced by her lie, but hopefully he'd forget about it quickly.

Dom straightened, and met Kel's muddy brown eyes with his own gorgeous blue ones. Kel's heart fluttered, and she berated herself. _He's in love with someone else. Stop kidding yourself. _Dom patted her shoulder. "I think," he said, "it would be best if you slept in the hospital tent tonight."

They walked slowly through the campsite, Dom supporting Kel. Soon she was set up in a bed in the hospital tent, which was near Dom's own tent for convenience: he was the only one Gifted enough in their group to be able to perform strong healings in emergencies.

By now the sun had set. Dom poked his head into the hospital tent, glancing over at Kel and her newly acquired bandages and creams. "Goodnight," he said, and left.

Kel had been lying down, doing her best to look tired and weak. Now, she sat up and reached under her bed sheets to where a handful of griffon feathers lay. She grasped them tightly. Had Dom forgotten she had these? Had he really thought she wouldn't notice the listening spells layered thick over his tent, to protect his privacy? Kel listened; the magic of the feathers cut through the blanket of spells over Dom's tent and heightened her hearing. She latched onto the conversation greedily.

"…I wasn't saying I was _happy_ that she's injured; of course I'm not." Dom's voice sounded as clear as if she was standing next to him.

"Okay, there's no need to get so defensive!" Kel narrowed her eyes. Was that Dom's lieutenant?

"Look," said Dom. "All I meant was that there's some real good that'll come from Kel injuring herself; at least now we'll have far less trouble hiding _everyone_ and _everything_ from her."

The conversation ended then; the two men said their goodnights and parted. Kel lay down and thrust the griffon feathers back under the bed sheets. She'd get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing she did.

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**So…I hope you enjoyed it :) Check back soon, the other three chapters need to be up before the end of May. I do respect deadlines, I just…use all the time I've been given :P**

**And as much as I appreciate the alerts and favourites, please, as always, review as well! (just because I like reviews, and I'm also annoying enough to ask you for them :P) Reviewers receive virtual cookies! (all the satisfaction of a real cookie – well, not really ;) – and no weight gain! What's not to love?)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A quick note - anonymous reviewer Ruthie noticed a few mistakes I made; firstly, Dom doesn't have the Gift (oops) and secondly…I have no idea what has happened with knights / King's Own / leaders / squadrons in this fic. (double oops). This is a definite sign that I should've done my homework and looked up some quick facts on Tamora Pierce Wiki. The thing is, though, I've been pretty busy recently and will only be able to finish this fic. on time by the skin of my teeth – this means that sometime in the future I may go back and make small changes to the fic. in order to make it more accurate…but in the meantime, I'll just continue on with things as they are, party due to lack of time, and partly because I really can't be bothered looking up military affiliations after working on my history essay all day :S **

**Sorry about what is now a ridiculously long author note. Oops. And it's about to get longer because I haven't done a disclaimer and probably should.**

**Disclaimer:**** I, Philippa Spark, do not own anything in this fic apart from the mediocre storyline. :) Characters, world etc. all belong to Tamora Pierce…although who wouldn't mind a share in Dom? :P **

**Chapter 3 must include a candle…**

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The moon was high in the sky, and everyone in the campsite was asleep – well, nearly everyone.

_Crash!_

Somewhere near the hospital tent, a tent rope had claimed another victim.

"Shush!"

Kel sat bolt upright in bed.

"Sorry!" came the whispered reply.

A voice – a lady's voice? – sighed affectedly. "Well, Clumsy, you should be, you – you-"

"Meathead?" That was Dom's voice for sure.

Kel's eyes widened as she heard nervous giggling and the sound of a tent flap being pushed aside. The voices belonging to Dom and his friend retreated inside, and Kel caught a brief murmur of conversation before the tent flap resettled and the listening spells kicked in.

Her eyes narrowed and she squared her shoulders. Listening spells weren't about to stop her!

She reached under her bed sheets for her griffon feathers – and felt only sheets. She wriggled around, tossing about her covers as she hastily tried to grab them, but still couldn't find them. Shuffling about, searching unsuccessfully, Kel knew she was wasting precious time – and missing out on what could be very telling information! Then she was forced to stop as her movement caused Owen, in the next bed down, to roll over and mumble in his sleep.

Owen, her lieutenant. She had forgotten about him. He had moved into the sickbay the same time she had, claiming his stomach felt a little odd. It was as if when he saw that Kel could be admitted into the hospital tent, he felt that it wasn't shameful for him to be admitted either. _Although,_ Kel smirked, _he didn't look that ill to me. Maybe he just wanted a break. _

Normally a slack attitude such as this would have bothered her, but currently Kel had more pressing concerns. Dom's lady-friend was right there, in the camp!

If only she could find the feathers – and she couldn't light a candle for light to search by, or she'd wake Owen, who had enough inquisitiveness for the whole squadron.

There was nothing else for it. She'd have to eavesdrop the traditional way.

Kel shivered as her bare feet touched the cool earth. She slid them quickly into a pair of boots and pulled a blanket round her shoulders as a makeshift cloak. As she tiptoed out of the hospital tent, she carefully felt about for a candle and picked one up as quietly as she could.

One outside, she glanced around for any sign of a small fire. She spotted some embers from last night's campfire smouldering in a heap. Shuffling over, she prodded the candle into the dying embers and prayed.

Life spluttered to candle, and Kel grinned in the dim light of the growing flame. She turned quickly and slipped towards Dom's tent.

The listening spells were still in effect – Kel had to make an opening in the tent to find an opening in the spell. She gave a silent prayer to the Goddess as slid her fingers under the tent flap, raising it as high as she dared. She knew the tent was large, so chances were that no-one would be looking her way. _Besides,_ she thought darkly, _they're probably otherwise occupied._

She put her ear to the gap in the tent. She swallowed nervously as she heard the voices so near.

"So," Kel's heart skipped a beat at the sound of Dom's voice, "where are the others?"

_Others?_ thought Kel. _Others!_

"I rode ahead." _That_ voice was undoubtedly female – and Kel had a strange feeling that it was terribly familiar.

Dom chuckled. It was a warm, rich sound that raised goose bumps on Kel's already shivering skin. "That's a good thing," he said, "you're a lot easier on the eyes than some of the others – I can think of one who would burn my men's eyes out."

"You amuse me when you speak that way." The woman laughed, and Kel felt a pang of envy at the beautiful, feminine sound. "Sometimes I actually think you should marry each other!"

Kel _knew_ that voice. She _knew_ she knew it.

Kel could tell Dom was rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry, but that is disgusting. I am _repulsed_."

There was a moment's silence, and then the pair broke out laughing once more.

"You know what?" The woman sounded reflective. "I'm so proud of you. You actually planned this properly – I didn't think you were capable of that!"

"Hey, I'm not entirely governed by sudden urges and impulses!" Dom put on a mock injured tone.

"No, really; it's wonderful you planned this so well. I mean, Kel doesn't have the least idea that anything's going on in this camp behind her back!"

Kel recoiled in shock, her head spinning. She had just realised who owned the light, female voice. It was a lady who should have been miles and miles away, standing faithfully by her husband's side. She was one of Kel's best friends, and her name was Yukimi noh Daiomoru.

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**BAM BAM BAM!**

**Did you see that one coming? I hope not :P Who did you think it would be? In the meantime please review (and thank you if you already have), and look out for chapters 4 and 5, which will be up before the end of May if I'm going to meet my deadline :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 must include a map…

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Yukimi noh Daiomoru. Yuki. She was Kel's friend. Her _friend_.

And what about Neal, Yuki's husband? Kel loved him like he was her own brother – no, she loved him more than any of her siblings. And he loved his faithless wife. How would he react – how would he even _cope_ – to find that Yuki's heart now belonged to another?

How long had this been going on for? Kel shook with anger; for herself, for Neal, and for anyone else who had been deceived by that cruel Yamani minx. Had Yuki planned to eventually even _tell_ Neal?

Kel's rage became bitter hurt and sorrow. How could she. How _could_ she!

Her fingers were numb. Through the red mist coating her mind, Kel registered vaguely that the tent flap had slipped from her grasp. Still, she didn't care. How could she care about anything with the knowledge of her friend's dreadful betrayal?

Yet Kel was brought rudely back to the present; the _whump_ of the tent flap had attracted attention in the silence of the night.

"Who's there?" Yuki's voice sounded afraid – quite rightly. Kel was going to go in there and give her a piece of her mind. She reached over to step inside –

"Who is it?" Dom's voice paused, before speaking warily. "Is that Kel?"

The latter heard a sharp intake of breath from within the tent. _Ah, the deceitful wife is scared now, is she?_ she thought with a sense of satisfaction.

Yet Yuki wasn't the only one who had fears. At the sound of Dom's wonderful, sweet voice, all of Kel's doubts and worries had flooded back with renewed strength. She didn't want to confront him. She didn't want to do it.

Besides, she was dressed only in a rather airy nightgown and an old bed sheet. Not to mention the fact that she was armed only with a candle, and it had long been extinguished.

"Kel? That's you, isn't it?" Kel panicked as she heard Dom getting up – and even through her fear she didn't miss the rustle of bed sheets as he stood.

_Run. There's nothing shameful in running if it's the only way of saving your skin_. Kel thanked Lord Wyldon's advice as she scuttled as silently as she could back to the hospital tent. Maybe if she slipped inside quickly enough, she could grab a weapon, wake Owen to help her, and together they'd confront Dom. Yes. That might work.

Although, the fact remained, Kel still didn't much like the thought of engaging in a possible fight dressed in the flimsiest, most embarrassing garment known to humankind. But, of course, Lord Wyldon had also often impressed that a knight needed to be capable of responding in all situations. _Although_, thought Kel, _I doubt he had nightgowns in mind when he said it_.

Oh, Goddess. Where was a heavy metal object when she needed one?

Dom pushed inside the tent. He smiled ruefully. "Keladry of Mindelan. You are _not_ going to like what I'll be doing to you next."

Kel grabbed the saucepan used to heat water for poultices. "Owen!" she cried, abandoning all subtlety as Dom walked slowly towards her.

A tousled head appeared from under the covers. Luckily Owen woke up quickly – he assessed the situation with a single glance. "Ah," he said, "I had hoped it wouldn't come to this." Yet he made no move to come to Kel's aid.

"Kel, Kel, Kel." Dom continued to approach her. He pulled a map out of his pocket and shook it at her reproachfully. "You do realise we can't just let you foil our plans, don't you?"

Plans? A map? Was this some insane elopement scheme?

Kel looked wildly back and forth between Dom and Owen. "Is everyone here against me?"

Dom chuckled softly, but Kel saw nothing humorous about the situation. And then she saw nothing about the situation at all, as pale blue mist seeped from Dom's hands and Kel fell into a shroud of darkness.

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**Oo…Is Dom a reincarnation of Duke Roger? (gorgeous gitface) Well, that speculation is a little farfetched, but I would enjoy hearing what you think of it all. As always, please review, and I hope you're enjoying this fic. so far :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you all reviewers! :)**

**I'm not going to write an author note at the end, as I think it would spoil it. But please review (I want to know what you think of the ending!) despite not having an annoying reminder.**

**Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this (admittedly rather short) fic.! I hope you've enjoyed it and have gotten a smile from reading it. **

**And why not check out the Tamora Pierce Writing Experiment forum, for which this was written?**

**Also, if DomLuver is reading this, I think this chapter in particular may be to your taste :)**

**Chapter 5 – the final chapter – must contain a key…

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Kel opened bleary eyes. Her bed felt soft beneath her. Still, she was struggling to remember how she got there…but she was glad someone had had the consideration to drape a blanket over her.

Wait.

Kel's eyes narrowed.

_Oh, Dom must have covered me up to protect me from the cold_, she thought. _How kind of him. It was the least he could do after_ knocking me unconscious with his gods-cursed blue mist magical rubbish!

And Owen. Where was that little wretch? Oh, when she got her hands on him, the treacherous –

Kel broke off mid-thought as she spied a small scroll of paper, tied with a bright red ribbon, hung by the entrance to the tent.

Dreams of vengeance and torture methods fled her mind, as she kicked off her blanket and tumbled out of bed. She crossed the room in a few large strides and tore the ribbon off the scroll.

It was as she had thought. Dom had left her the map.

Why?

Kel unfurled it fully to see a detailed representation of their campsite and its surroundings. A dotted line led away from the clearing. Kel traced the trail with her fingers; it led to what appeared to be an abandoned shed.

Terrible images of crimes committed where no one could hear the screams sprung unbidden to her mind. _There's something odd about all this, _Kel decided. _Yet I don't quite feel that it's…a _bad _odd, exactly._

Puzzled, Kel hastily donned a bed-robe and slipped the map into one of its pockets. Pushing the tent flap aside, she stepped out into their open air.

The sun was high in the sky – Dom's little enchantment must have made her oversleep. Maybe it was so that he could make a quick getaway…and leave her a map of his route? Leading where?

Stranger still, the campsite, which would normally have been at its peak of activity at midday, was completely silent. The only noise across the whole clearing was the sound of a dove singing out for its mate. Yet the campsite was still fully set up and equipped, the horses were in their temporary enclosure, and everything looked entirely as it should - except for the fact that not a soul was in the campsite except for Kel.

Now she was utterly confused. She pulled the map out of her pocket for another look, and glanced down in the process. Some feathers lay at her feet. She bent down – it was as she suspected; they were her missing griffon feathers. Dom must have taken them! And yet…now he was giving them back?

She picked them up as carefully as if they might burn her. Scrutinising them carefully, she saw that they hadn't been tampered with; all was in good condition.

Frowning, she spotted a tiny label attached to the cluster of feathers. In elegant Yamini script – it was Yuki's handwriting – was simply written, "Trust".

Trust? _Trust?_ Who was she to talk about trust, the little back-stabbing minx?

Yet when Kel held the feathers in her hand, they showed her the truth. They stripped magic away and showed her what lay underneath it all. Feathers in hand, she could _feel_ the trail, seen on the map, winding away between the trees. Maybe this was what it felt like to have a Gift.

She set off, determined to follow wherever the map and feathers would lead her. She wanted to know what was going on, and she was going to find out there and then.

Reaching the edge of the clearing, she saw something metallic glinting at the foot of a great oak. The feathers led her towards it; on closer inspection, Kel saw it was a silver key. She picked it up, unconcerned by the fact that it was a strange key planted in a place she was led to by magic – she had full faith that her griffon feathers would keep her safe from any magical threat. Besides, this magic didn't feel evil or vindictive – if anything, the trail leading away from her feet seemed to shine with ill-suppressed excitement.

Oh gods – had she ever been this curious in her life? She _had_ to find out what was going on!

Kel broke into a run, her feet guided partly by her map-reading, and undoubtedly partly by magic. She sensed Dom's magic in the trail. She ran faster, following it as quickly as she could. She rounded a bend – and found herself in a clearing.

A large shed stood at the opposite end of the clearing. It still had all four of its walls, despite missing many wooden planks off its roof. It had clearly been many years since the building could boast peeling paint; now, it was well into the lichen-covered stage.

She approached the derelict building slowly, tentatively. Was it her imagination, or were soft voices coming from inside? She reached the door, and put out a hand to open it. She tugged at the doorknob, making the door itself rattle on its hinges. Everything went quiet inside – was that a "shhh!" she heard?

Blue letters appeared on the doorframe, as if written by an invisible hand. _A silver key will unlock the answer._

Her hands shook as she fumbled about for the key, and then slid it into the keyhole. She held her breath with anticipation and opened the door.

"_Happy Birthday!"_

Kel jumped back like a startled animal, her eyes as wide as saucers.

A sea of familiar faces lay before her. She shook her head- it had to be a hallucination.

"Look at her face! I thought most people grew out of the scared sheep expression once they finished training as a page – or at least, that's how it was back in my day."

No, it was definitely real. She'd be as mad as a Copper Isles Princess before the day she hallucinated about Lord Wyldon.

She looked around; the faces were laughing, smiling. Friends came forward to hug her and say a few words. Owen sped out of nowhere and nearly knocked her over with the force of his – supposedly affectionate – tackle. Neal was banned from the food table and walked off, nose held high – it turned out he had eaten half the dishes before Kel even arrived. She hugged him for a long time anyway. Meanwhile, Alanna the Lioness sat glaring at the decorations lighting up the walls until they began to change from bright colour to bright colour out of sheer embarrassment.

Someone squashed the air out of her in what was almost literally a bear hug – Lord Raoul was here? And Buri! Kel walked around, half-dazed, but happier than she had been in a very long time. She grinned from ear to ear, shaking her head at the wonder of it all. A surprise birthday? For her? Her smile didn't falter even during a near disaster where she practically tripped over Tobe, who was scrabbling about on the floor for the horse treats which had fallen from his pockets.

Eventually she disentangled herself from the crowd and made it to the other side of the room, as people became distracted by an odd shape-shifting entertainment display, courtesy of a man named Nawat Crow – Alanna said he was one of the more unusual young men her daughter had brought home.

An ivory fan tapped Kel on the shoulder, and she spun round. "Yuki!" she exclaimed, and flung herself onto her petite friend, who was nearly bowled over by Kel's enthusiasm.

"Well," said Yuki once she had regained her breath and her balance, "you certainly did look surprised!"

All the pieces had fallen into place; Kel had no reason to be angry at her dear friend. The only secret Yuki had kept from Kel was the secret of the surprise birthday itself – everything else had been a build-up of Kel's paranoia combined with an overactive imagination.

"You should've seen us sneak everyone through the camp," giggled Yuki, "it was wonderful. Neal tripped over a dozen tent ropes at least."

Kel felt embarrassed simply thinking such a mushy thought…but she had to admit that sometimes just laughing with your friends could be the best thing in the world.

A little later, Kel felt a tug at her sleeve. She turned to see Daine the Wildmage flanked by Numair, who was looking self-conscious. "I made him wear his black Master robes for the occasion," said Daine with a wink.

"Worse things could happen," said Numair. "Notice Daine hasn't taken off her cloak yet – I made her wear her clothes from when she lived in Galla. Well, they're by far the most colourful things in your wardrobe," he protested at Daine's mock glare. "We decided we should at least try to look slightly different from usual for a celebration," he explained. "It shows we're not always off in a world of our own."

"Besides," whispered Daine confidentially, "all my other clothes were covered in animal hair."

Kel looked down at her own clothes. In all the excitement, she had forgotten that she was still dressed only in a nightgown and bed-robe. If Daine and Numair were overdressed, she was anything but!

The pair drifted off, before suddenly turning on their heels and returning to Kel's side. "We forgot what we came to give you!" laughed Daine. She pulled something inky black – and _moving_ – from her cloak pocket. "Meet Honeycup," she said. "It's a darking."

Kel gasped as the thing leaped from Daine's hand to wrap itself around Kel's arm. She'd heard of these creatures before, but it was certainly the first time one had gotten this close to her. It gazed up at her with large eyes.

"We did mean for you to take it away along with your other presents, but it was getting very overexcited and couldn't wait to meet its new friend," Numair was apologising. "Honeycup is -"

"Hiccup!" piped up a tiny voice. "My name Hiccup!"

Daine smiled. "It has trouble with long words. It doesn't cope so well with Honeycup, even though that's the object at its core." Sure enough, a small honeycup flower lay at the darking's core, occasionally ending up making the darking look at if it was wearing a tiny hat.

Kel put her ear close to the darking to her the little noises it was making more clearly. Strange creatures, darkings; Hiccup's voice was a constant stream of "Funfunfunfunfunfunfun!"

Kel raised her eyebrows at Daine, who shrugged. "It likes parties," she explained. "We're giving it to you so you have a loyal helper in case you need to spy on any more honest surprise birthday planners." She winked, and strolled off arm in arm with Numair, a tiny group of birds soon flying down to circle around their heads.

Kel poked Hiccup. "For now you can wander," she said. "Enjoy yourself!"

No sooner had she spoken, Hiccup vanished with a squeak of excitement to watch the entertainment.

Kel looked down at her bedclothes once more, feeling her cheeks turn scarlet with embarrassment – luckily she was only around friends…She walked off to a quieter corner of the room to enjoy the entertainment, now being given by Buri, who was demonstrating a K'Miri sword dance.

It was then that Dom appeared.

Kel hadn't seen him at all throughout the entire celebration so far – her heart ached at the thought. "Where have you been?" she asked laughingly. "Don't tell me a little social bird like you was hiding in a corner!"

Dom chuckled and stepped into the light, and Kel's jaw dropped. He was barefoot, his loose pair of night-wear trousers covered only by a pale blue bed robe.

Kel began to giggle uncontrollably. Dom looked at her sheepishly. "I didn't think you'd take the time to actually get dressed in some proper clothes, and so I decided I didn't want you to be the only one looking like, like -"

"Looking as if they're completely cobweb-brained?" Kel supplied. Then the laughter started again, and this time Dom joined in whole-heatedly: they made quite a pair, sliding to the floor, clutching their sides with mirth.

"You know," said Dom, once he had regained control of his voice, "I'm actually still quite amazed that we managed to keep you in the dark for so long. It was only once we realised that you were onto us that we decided to give you that false lead," he laughed, "where you thought Yuki and I were having a secret affair!" He began to laugh again so hard that Kel wondered herself how she could have possibly suspected Dom of being in any _serious_ relationship at all.

"Actually, when I think back, I don't belive you actually meant to give me a false lead at all. It was simply the way I interpreted all that I overheard."

Dom looked sideways at her. "Alright, I'm giving us too much credit. It wasn't at all part of the plan to put ideas in your head: you did it all on your own."

Kel grinned. "I'll _try_ and take that as a compliment."

_Still_, she admitted to herself, _it's true. I was the most deceptive person in this entire episode of delightful madness…How embarrassing! To think I actually tricked myself so well…_

She glanced at Dom. "You know what?" she asked. "If this is the outcome, I think we should all be deceptive more often." She hesitated for a moment, then impulsively flung her arms round Dom in a hug. "Thank you," she whispered, "Thank you."

Dom stroked her coarse brown hair, yet it felt as soft as silk under his light touch. He put his face close to hers. "I don't want to deceive you any more," he whispered in her ear, "and I'm not deceiving you now." He planted a kiss on top of his dear friend's head; she had by now had fallen asleep.


End file.
